Fellowship Training Program in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

The clinical and research activities of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine offer a diverse training program, supported by physician scientists and academic clinicians. This provides exposure to different practice approaches, patient populations, and experiences throughout the course of fellows training.

Sandy Ramos, M.D.
Vice Chair, Education
Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program
Director, Diabetes and Pregnancy Program
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Expertise: treating women with chronic medical complications such as diabetes to help ensure safe deliveries of healthy infants while maintaining optimal health of mothers. She is also experienced in managing invasive placentation and other fetal high-risk conditions.

Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, M.D., M.S., FACOG
Samuel SC Yen Endowed Chair
Chair, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: fetal anomalies, high risk pregnancies including medical complications of pregnancy.

Jerasimos Ballas , M.D.
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Expertise: maternal chronic illnesses including diabetes and hypertension, utlrasound evaluation of fetal abnormalities, and management of invasive placentation. 

Nicole Teal, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Expertise: managing illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension, diagnosing fetal abnormalities by ultrasound, managing twin and triplet pregnancies and treating placental disorders. 

Tim Wen, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Expertise: managing chronic medical conditions during pregnancy, addressing pregnancy-related complications and treating complex fetal conditions such as congenital anomalies and genetic disorders.

Leah Lamale-Smith, M.D.
Associate Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: performing invasive fetal procedures for prenatal screening and diagnosis, including chorionic villus sampling (CVS), amniocentesis, and fetal blood sampling and intrauterine transfusions.

Louise Laurent, M.D., Ph.D. 
Director, Perinatal Research
Co-Director, Center for OB/GYN Research and Innovation
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: treating women who are at risk for preeclampsia or fetal growth restriction.

Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang M.D., M.S., FACOG
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: prenatal diagnosis, sonographic evaluation of fetal malformations, evaluation and management of complicated twin and triplet pregnancies, Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, and performing intrauterine fetal therapies. 

Maryam Tarsa, M.D. 
Interim Division Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Director, Department Quality
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: fetal imaging and treating pregnant women with autoimmune disorders, cardiac disorders, and transplant recipients. She also cares for women having twins or higher-order multiples.

Emeruwa, Ukachi, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: treating patients with high blood pressure prior to pregnancy or who are at risk for preeclampsia or other pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders. 

Douglas Woelkers, M.D.
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: hypertension, preeclampsia, placental insufficiency, thrombophilia, and coagulation disorders.

Richard Wolf, D.O., M.P.H.
Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine

 

Expertise: fetal imaging, amniotic fluid abnormalities, blood clotting disorders during pregnancy and blood group (Rh) incompatibility

UC San Diego Fellows in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Minhazur Sarker, M.D.
7/2023-7/2026 Fellow

Hometown: Corvallis, OR
Undergraduate School:Oregon State University
Medical School: Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
Residency: Ob/Gyn at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY
Fellowship: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Career Interests: Management of and advancing research within the realms of placenta accreta spectrum, fetal growth restriction, pre-eclampsia, cholestasis

Rachel Wiley, M.D., MPH
7/2024-7/2027 Fellow

Residency: UT Health Houston
Fellowship: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Erin Gallent, MD, PhD
7/2025-7/2028 Fellow

Residency: Kaiser Permanente Southern California
Fellowship: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Jenny Koenig, M.D., Ph.D.
7/2025-7/2028 Fellow

Residency: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Fellowship: UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA

UC San Diego Nurse Practitioners in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Jasmine Ortega, CNM
Certified Nurse Midwife

Structure and rotations are reflected in this block diagram: AY 2025-2026 block diagram

Fellows are encouraged to attend the Department Grand Rounds scheduled on Wednesday afternoons as well as seminars and conferences provided by other departments and institutions. Also, fellows participate in paid night call rotation in obstetrics and gynecology.

Training of fellows is centered at UC San Diego Jacob's Medical Center in La Jolla, with a delivery rate of approximately 350 per month (4,200 per year), of which 50–60% are high-risk, encompassing a wide range of complex obstetrical problems. UC San Diego Medical Center has an outstanding Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit adjacent to the delivery unit.

An especially strong aspect of our training program is our Fetal Care and Genetics Center, multidisciplinary units receiving referral patients from throughout San Diego County. These centers are staffed with geneticists, our own Maternal-Fetal Medicine faculty, and dedicated fetal sonographers. Affiliated with the center are specialists in the disciplines of pediatric urology, neurosurgery, nephrology, teratology, and perinatal pathology providing comprehensive fetal diagnostic care and management. Additionally, fellows receive training in needle procedures including amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, percutaneous umbilical blood sampling and other fetal procedures.

MFM fellows are trained in advanced surgical procedures required for the management of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS).  The PAS program is a multidisciplinary program involving, MFM faculty, critical care, interventional radiology and gynecologic oncology. 

Our aim is to prepare academic leaders for a career in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) with a solid foundation for leadership. Specific educational activities are organized to maximize the fellowship education opportunity:

UC San Diego

• Weekly didactic sessions with the entire clinical faculty, sonographers, and genetic counselors. Sessions are 1.0 hour long and consist of interactive seminars on subjects relevant to MFM, anesthesia, NICU, critical care, and placental pathology.
• Bi-monthly Department Grand Rounds with faculty, residents, fellows and invited speakers. Sessions are 1 hour long.
• Bi-monthly Department Grand Rounds with faculty, residents, fellows and invited speakers. Sessions are 1 hour long.
• Department Cased Based Review (previously Morbidity and Mortality) conferences with faculty, residents and fellows. Sessions are 1 hour long and recur the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th Wednesday afternoon.
• Bi-monthly Fetal Diagnosis Conference - a multidisciplinary group discussion of cases followed from prenatal diagnosis through delivery. Fetal and maternal outcomes along with continued newborn treatment and management are reviewed. There is also a guest speaker invited to discuss important fetal diagnosis topics. The conference occurs every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month.
• OB Quality Meeting is a monthly meeting where OB quality goals are discussed. These include, CMQCC benchmarks, NTSV rate, and OB hemorrhage. The conference occurs every 2nd Wednesday of the month.
• Placenta Accreta Spectrum Conference (PAS) is a multidisciplinary monthly meeting to review diagnosis and management of PAS cases.
• Cardio-OB conference is a multidisciplinary monthly meeting to review ongoing patients with congenital and acquired cardiac conditions in pregnancy.
• Rheumatology/inflammatory bowel disease conference is a multidisciplinary monthly meeting to review patients with autoimmune and IBD conditions in pregnancy.

Additional conferences include:

• Infectious Disease Core Lecture every 1st and 3rd Fridays
• NICU M&M every 1st Wednesday
• Quarterly MFM journal club scheduled quarterly on Friday mornings

Conferences outside of UC San Diego:

• SMFM annual pregnancy conference
• UCLA annual fetal echo conference
• SMFM first year fellows retreat
• GOHO second year ultrasound course
• Banner critical care in obstetrics symposium
• UCSF genomics boot camp
• UCIC meeting

All MFM fellows conduct a primary thesis research project which have historically been basic, translational, or clinical.   Fellows often have secondary projects that typically involve clinical or ultrasound activities under the leadership of the faculty or an affiliated research mentor. The Center for OB/GYN Research Innovation (CORI) was established in 2023 in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences to provide the infrastructure for promoting innovative clinical, translational, and basic science research programs aimed at bridging gaps in women’s healthcare and our understanding of female biology. In collaboration with UC San Francisco, UCSD has joined the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network.

Structure

The structure of the fellows’ research and clinical service activities is flexibly determined, based on the needs and desires of each individual fellow. In accordance with ACGME certification standards for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, 12 months of the fellowship is protected for clinical, translational or basic science research. All fellows complete courses on epidemiology and biostatistics through the Clinical Research Enhancement through Supplemental Training (CREST) Program. There is monthly Work In Progress (WIP) meetings to review fellow research progress. Fellows are expected to present their thesis in their 3^rd year of fellowship to the thesis committee.  Fellows typically publish 2–4 first author manuscripts and present regularly at Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Society for Reproductive Investigation meetings.

Application Process 2026

Application materials are submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), via the Dean's Office of the applicant's medical school. We only accept applications through ERAS.

A complete application file consists of:

1. 1. An ERAS application (Common Application Form)
   2. A personal statement
   3. Three letters of recommendation
      1. Letter from Program Director
      2. Letter from Chair
      3. Other, e.g. research mentor
   4. Please note that MFM program signals will be used to gauge your interest in our program as it pertains to interview selection only
   5.  

Application Dates

• Application Deadline: Send your letters with your application to ERAS by April 27, 2026
• Notification for Interview: Notification of acceptance will be sent out on May 18, 2026
• Deadline to respond to invitation to interview: May 26, 2026
• Interview Dates: Interviews will be scheduled in July and August (TBD). Interviews will be virtual.

Match

All Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellow positions are filled through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). You must also call or write the NRMP for application.